A Call for Help
by OffbeatLover
Summary: Mac finds herself in a very familiar and dangerous situation.  There is only one person she can call.  Only one person she wants to call.  MaDi Oneshot.  Right after S3.  Spoilers from whole series.  A little bit of LoVe tossed in.


I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTERS!!! Rob Thomas owns these characters and some aspects of the story! Again, it contains spoilers from all 3 seasons and takes place just a little after the series finale.

This is my first try at writing any sort of real fiction, let alone fan fiction. Tell me how I did! I'd really like to know!

** XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Her head pounding for some unknown reason, Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie fought to open her sandy feeling eyes. Once that battle was completed, she slowly raised her head and tried to peer around the room. Several things immediately stuck out to her; things that frightened her as she had not been frightened in a long while. First, and perhaps most terrifying, was that she seemed to be naked. And in a hotel room. It was like that horrifying night all over again, only this time, she knew she had not gone willingly to this room.

Fighting her aching body, she slowly pulled herself up. She frantically looked around for something to cover herself up with, realizing that for some reason the blankets that should have been on the bed were gone. She managed to crawl into the bathroom to see if there was a towel, but discovering there wasn't, she crawled back out. She refused to entertain the thought of covering up in a plastic shower curtain again. She saw the curtains on the windows. Making a split decision that those curtains would be more comfortable than the plastic kind, she slowly and painfully crawled her way across the room to the window.

When she reached her destination, it took Mac a couple of tries to get a good grip on the bottom of the curtains. She started to pull as hard as she could and with a crash the curtain rod broke free of the wall and fell down, just missing her head. Mac then proceeded to get the curtain off the rod in order to cover herself.

Once Mac was as satisfied as she could be with her coverage, she looked around the room more closely to try to figure out where she was and why she was there. She thought it was somewhat reminiscent of the furniture in the Neptune Grande, but really, she had tried to avoid any rooms there since that awful night a little over a year ago. However, she really couldn't shake the duel feelings of recognition and dread that were flowing through her as she looked around the room.

Realizing that sitting there wasn't doing much for her current predicament, Mac decided that trying to get help was the most important thing. She painstakingly climbed to her feet andunsteadily made her way across the room, looking for her cell phone. God, why was it so hard for her to move??? She slowly realized that if she couldn't find her clothing, chances were very good her phone would also be listed among the missing items. However, she somewhat happily realized that the room phone was still available to her as a way to call for help.

Once she had made her way slowly over to the phone and lowered herself down on the ground next to the bed and the desk, she pulled the phone to her. However, once she had her hands on the potentially lifesaving device, she realized that she couldn't think of anyone's phone number. Why should she be able to? Any number she called regularly was safely stored in the memory bank of her phone. She sighed in what was the first flitting of anger. After being so careful to not put herself into a situation where she could become this vulnerable again, she had somehow managed to get right back in the same situation. Only this time she had actually apparently been drugged. Not only that, but she was now beginning to realize how much more vulnerable she was.

Could she have been raped?

Panicking now, she picked up the phone and dialed the only number she had memorized. A number she had been debating with herself to call for almost 3 weeks now. She counted the rings, begging the person on the other line to answer.

"Yo, seeing as how I don't recognize this number, I hope you are a really hot chick looking for a good time!"

She sighed silently in relief, but didn't say anything, she was so relieved that he answered.

"Umm, hello? I mean, I totally dig the hot and sexy breathing routine, but how about you describe yourself first so I can get in on the heavy breathing thing too?"

"Dick...?"

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Dick Casablancas had been having a crappy 3 weeks. Ever since that night he had almost kissed his dead brother's ex-girlfriend, he had been in a pretty foul mood. Even his best friend Logan Echolls had grown tired of his moodiness, and Logan was probably the moodiest guy Dick had ever met.

Although, for the first week and a half, Logan too had been in a fairly bad mood because of the fact that his girlfriend Parker had dumped him after finally realizing that Logan was still, and probably always would be, in love with Veronica Mars. Then, surprise surprise, Veronica had called Logan and asked to meet for coffee and to talk about whatever drama had gone down surrounding Parker's realization. Since then, Veronica had been over at the Presidential Suite in the Neptune Grande, where Logan and Dick lived, almost everyday. Dick didn't really know what was going on with the two of them, or with their now ex-significant others, as Veronica had apparently dumped her boyfriend Piz. To be honest, Dick really didn't care. He was too busy dwelling on that night at the beach 3 weeks ago. Hell, if he was being honest with himself, he'd been too busy dwelling on the past year, but especially that night on the beach.

He'd really been living up to his name the past year, especially when it came to one Cindy "Mac" MacKenzie. Although, he had always lived up to his name when it came to her, or anyone else he had thought lower than himself for that matter. But ever since the Beav had nosedived off the Grande, he'd definitely taken it out on Mac anytime he'd seen her. Thankfully for her, it hadn't been that often those first few months. But God, when he remembered what he had said to her that one awful night back at the beginning of fall, he couldn't help but cringe in self-hatred. It wasn't her fault. Any more than it was his. He often had to remind himself that it wasn't his fault that Beav did what he did, but he knew with absolute certainty that it hadn't been Mac's fault. She'd been the one bright spot in Beav's life. She didn't deserve what Beav had done to her, and he still wanted to kick his brother's ass for his actions that fateful night a year ago, and she _really_ didn't deserve what he himself had said.

Too bad it took his fugitive father's reappearance to make Dick finally get up the nerve to apologize to Mac. Of course, the courage to do so had come with a lot of liquid help too. And his apology hadn't gone quite the way he'd been planning in the multiple ways he'd thought about doing it pretty much since he'd verbally attacked her. Instead of sounding sincere and maybe being able to leave as potentially friends, the way he really wanted, he had come off sounding like a stuttering, drunken idiot..._and_ worst of all, he'd done what he had thought about only in his dreams and tried to kiss her!!!

He still couldn't believe that he had done that. However, as angry as he was at himself, he was disappointed too. For a moment there, he thought she might maybe want to kiss him too. He knew it was probably wrong of him to feel so attracted to his dead brother's ex-girlfriend, but damned if it didn't feel so wrong. It actually felt more right than he had felt about something in a long time. But no matter how right it felt, it didn't matter, because Mac thought he was scum, and justifiably so. He would do anything to make up for the things he and his brother had done to her.

Sighing, his head hurting slightly from all the self evaluation, he pulled back down his hearing muffs over his ears and picked up his gun. As much as target practice reminded him of his loser father, it still proved to be the one thing that relaxed him...well other than catching a glimpse of Mac smiling or laughing. It was good to know that she was able to move on from those awful nights that he and Beaver had put her through. Shaking his head again, he checked his weapon and then raised it to shoot a couple of rounds.

While reloading his weapon 15 minutes later, he felt his phone begin to vibrate. Walking to a quieter area and glancing down at the number that looked like it might be from the Grande, he answered it right before it would have gone to voice mail.

"Yo, seeing as how I don't recognize this number, I hope you are a really hot chick looking for a good time!"

He might as well keep up appearances of being an asshole, he thought wryly. Then, his brows furrowed as he heard the deep sigh and the breathing. This was going to be an odd phone call indeed.

"Umm, hello? I mean, I totally dig the hot and sexy breathing routine, but how about you describe yourself first so I can get in on the heavy breathing thing too?"

Then, his heart clenched as he heard the voice he had been dreaming about for months answer him, "Dick...?"

He was so shocked he lifted the phone from his ear and stared at it. He knew his mouth was hanging open, but he wanted to make sure this wasn't some sort of hallucination. Faintly he heard her speak again, "Dick? Are you there?"

He put the phone back to his ear. "Mac?"

"Dick, oh thank god. I am so happy you answered your phone."

To say that he was shocked would be an understatement. Was she calling to say that she had dumped her boyfriend and decided that she too was attracted to him? Yeah right, only in his dreams. But then he realized that there was something in her tone that was not right. Was she calling to tell him something had happened to the only person he could truly call his friend?

"Mac? Are you ok? Is something wrong? Did something happen to Logan and Veronica?"

When Mac didn't answer, but rather made a horrifying gasping sound accompanied by the sound of the phone dropping, he feared for the worst and it wasn't for Logan.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Mac was trying to figure out what to say to Dick now that she had him on the phone when she heard a noise at the door. She dropped the phone without disconnecting, praying that Dick would stay on the line, and made her way as quickly to the door as possible. It was there that she realized she had nothing planned. She decided the best course of action would be to make the door impenetrable, even if it was just the maid out there; she was too scared to look. She was happy to see that the dresser seemed to be easily movable and made her way to the other side of it. She started to push as hard as she could, which was difficult in her presently less than ideal physical condition.

With tears streaming down her face from both fear and exertion, she was able to push the dresser halfway in front of the door just as it started to push open. With a frightened cry and a surge of adrenaline, she was able to push it the rest of the way, not giving anyway for the door to open. She heard a muffled curse and knew it wasn't the harmless maid trying to get, but rather whoever had locked her in here and taken her clothing and phone. She crawled back to the phone, physically worn out from pushing the dresser and picked the phone back up.

Before she even brought it to her ear, she could hear Dick's near frenzied yells. "**MAC????** Mac, baby, please, tell me what's going on??? **ARE YOU THERE????**"

"D-dick, I'm b-back." She didn't know why it was so hard to talk, but hearing him so worried made her heart lurch and caused a knot of tears to well in her throat.

"Mac, what is going on? Are you ok? Where are you?" He seemed absolutely frantic. She heard a door slam and instinctively knew he had gotten into his car to go to her. This made her tingle in a way that really did not seem appropriate considering her current predicament.

"Oh god Dick, its happening again. I-I'm in a h-hotel, I d-don't know which one, and m-my cl-clothes are g-gone." She couldn't help it, but she started to sob. "I-I think I just l-locked whoever did it out, I-I put the dr-dresser in f-front of the door."

Through the phone line, she heard Dick groan. "Aww baby, that was good of you. You hear me? You did good. You are going to be ok. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. Do you understand me?"

His anger was palpable and she was happy it was not directed at her. It grounded her to know that he cared this much on her behalf. She realized that he couldn't see her nodding her head to let him know that she understood, so she whispered into the phone, because the knot in her throat got bigger every time he called her "baby."

"Yes Dick, I understand."

"Ok, baby, that's good. Now, I am pretty sure that this number you called me from is at the Grande. Do you know what that means? It means that I am pretty sure I know where you are at. Now, here's the bad news. I am going to have to get off the phone with you..."

Mac let out a sob at this, terrified to lose her one link to reality, to lose her one link to Dick, whom she trusted with her life.

"...Shhhh, baby, its ok Please, god baby, don't cry. I'm just gonna call Veronica, ok? I'm gonna give her this number and have her trace it, ok? That way I can get to you faster. I'm already almost back to the Grande. Please baby, stay strong for me, ok? You did real good, barricading yourself in. You are going to be safe for a while. Hotel dressers are really heavy. Ok baby, is that ok Mac? Will you trust me to get to you?"

Mac was trying not to let him hear her sobbing. She trusted him more than anything right now, for reasons she did not want to think about in her current state. She knew that he would come and save her, it was as simple as that. For some reason, she trusted him more at this moment than she ever had any of her previous boyfriends, including her current one Max, especially Max, and also more than her best friends Veronica and Wallace. He would save her.

"I know Dick, I know you will. Please, hurry..."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Groaning in acute emotional pain, Dick promised Mac again that he would call her back as soon as he could and hung up the phone. Quickly memorizing the number she had called from, because as dumb as he acted he really was good with numbers, he called Veronica while he sped to the Grande. If any of Neptune's finest tried to pull him over, well, he'd just outrun them and take his chances with Veronica's dad, who happened to be the Sheriff.

"Hello?"

"Veronica? Quick, I need your help. Its an emergency."

"Dick, seriously? Can't your fraternity do without my help for a day? What's the problem now? Someone needs to find the freshman who spilled beer on the carpet at the last party? Or let me guess, its actually you who needs my help. You want to find some skank that you made out with last night? Logan and I are busy. You are gonna have to figure it out by yourself this time buddy."

Dick growled in frustration. Normally he would be amused by Veronica's snarkiness with him, but this was Mac's safety he was dealing with.

"Dammit Veronica! This is an emergency. Tell Logan he'll have to wait! Mac needs me right now, and you are the quickest way for me to get to her!!!"

He knew that this was probably not the best way to get her to help, but he just didn't care. Knowing that she would go into _a Mac is my friend, not yours,_ lecture, he cut her off.

"Listen, Mac just called me. She's in trouble. I don't know why she called me instead of you, and I really don't care. I'm going to go to her, I'm going to save her. But I need your help. So save the lecture for later and just find out where this number is. I think its at the Grande, but I need confirmation and a room number. Ok? Here's the number..."

He proceeded to give her the number and then held his breath as he waited for his tactic to not work and for Veronica to explode at him. He was mildly surprised when Logan got on the phone instead.

"Hey man, she's looking up the number. And she's really upset. What's going on? Is this some joke, or is Mac really in trouble?"

Dick sighed, understanding why Logan would ask him something like this. After all, he had been trying very hard to live up to his moniker.

"Logan, I swear bro, and you can take this anyway you want, but I _would not _be joking about Mac like this, ok? I mean, would you joke about Veronica like this?"

Dick knew he had just revealed a lot about his feelings for Mac to his best friend and he had no idea how Logan would react. He held his breath, praying that Logan wouldn't tell him to grow up and stop being a jerk or something.

Logan sighed, "So, that's how it is, huh? Can't say I'm not surprised. She's a great girl. Just know that if you hurt her, I'll do my best to protect you, but you know how scary Ronnie is. I sorta had a feeling this might be how you were leaning, especially these past few weeks after that night at the beach."

Dick sighed in relief, "Thanks bro. For not, you know..." Getting a little uncomfortable with the conversation, Dick turned his mind back to the matter at hand.

"How's she coming with that number? Seriously, I don't want to leave Mac alone for too long. She really seemed to need to hear my voice." He wasn't really too sure about that, but he hoped it were true. She might be just as content, if not more so, for Veronica to be the one to call her back and rush to her rescue. But he'd been given this chance for whatever reason and he was not going to let Mac down again. Suddenly Veronica was back on the line.

"Dick? Yeah, you were right, the number is from the Neptune Grande. We are almost there, how close are you?"

"I am in the parking lot. What room is she in Ronnie?" He knew his voice sounded choked, but he would deal with these emotions later. And he didn't care what Veronica thought about them, not right now.

"Ok, the room number is 428. We will be there soon, but if she's in as much danger as you seem to think she is, go now. We'll meet you there, ok? Please Dick, make sure she's ok?"

"Ronnie, nothing means more to me than that right now."

Dick hung up the phone quickly and redialed Mac's number as he ran into the hotel. He counted the rings, wondering why she wasn't picking up. When she didn't answer, his heart went to his throat. He bypassed the elevator and took the stairs, going 2 or 3 at a time. He was terrified that her barricade hadn't held and her attacker was back. Oh god, he couldn't let her get hurt.

He burst onto the 4th floor and ran down the hall, seeing a guy banging on a door. Realizing that it was Mac's door, he went even faster and hit the guy on a flying tackle. He was very satisfied with the painful sounding grunt the guy made. Pulling the guy up and putting his arm across his throat, Dick pressed him against the wall next to the door of the room he prayed Mac was still in unscathed.

Needing to know if she was ok, he started shouting her name. "**MAC???? **Baby? Are you ok??? It's me, Dick! You are going to be ok now! Keep the door closed right now, though, ok??? I got the guy, but I want to wait til Logan gets here to hold him for me! **MAC?** Did you hear me?"

He heard her beautiful voice, very much muffled through the door and the dresser answering him. "Dick? You're really here? Ok, let me know when I can move the dresser...if I can...I'm so weak."

Her statement worried him, so he got even angrier and looked down into the guy's face. And then he was dumbfounded because he had seen this guy with Mac. It was her boyfriend Max. Dick smiled in wicked glee to know that he finally had a reason other than jealousy to rough this guy up. Shoving his arm tighter against Max's neck, he started questioning him.

"What the hell, dude? Is there a reason you felt the need to lock your girlfriend in a hotel room and steal her clothes?"

Max sputtered and his eyes got wide as he tried to rasp out an answer with Dick's arm pressed against his throat. "Oh, I should have known it would be you she would call. You're all she can talk about these days. 'Max, why are you dropping out, even Dick is still in school.' And 'Veronica, I really don't know what to do about Dick...' She thinks I can't see it, stupid bitch."

A surge of happiness sprung into Dick's chest at this knowledge, but he had something to take care of first. His closed fist came rushing down into Max's nose at the insult to Mac. "Dude, you do NOT call that fine chick in there a stupid bitch, you got me, ass clown?"

Then, while Max somewhat collapsed onto the arm pressing against his neck, Dick used his other hand to pull out his cell. He dialed Veronica's phone. She picked up on the first ring.

"DICK! What the hell is going on??? Was she there, is she ok???"

"Ronnie baby, calm down. She's still in the room. I don't want to go in until Logan gets here to hold the ass that did this to her. I've got him semi-passed out and against the wall. I kinda get the feeling you might want to have a go at him with that gnarly taser of yours."

"WHAT?!? You got the guy? How?"

"Oh ye of little faith, Veronica Mars. Babe, you're not the only one who can save the day. Besides my boy Max here was trying to get into Mac's room, but she had barricaded the door. She's one smart babe, Mac is. So, V, here's what I need you to do, ok? Please, just do it and don't argue and I swear you will be able to coddle our girl Mac once you do this. She's naked in there, Ronnie. No, I haven't gone in! Dammit would you just listen?!? I need you to send Logan to me and I need you to go up to my room and get her a shirt from my room. It'll be like a dress on her, but if you have any pajama pants, as if you would need them, but if you do have some in Logan's room, get them too. If not, I have a pair in the second drawer of my dresser that we might be able to tie tight on her. Ok? Can you do that for her?"

Veronica sighed into the phone, grateful that Dick was being so considerate for her friend and a little curious as to why. She had a feeling she already knew, but let the questioning go until later, when she knew that Mac was going to be ok.

"Yeah, Dick, I can do that. I'm also going to call my dad at the Sheriff's office, have him come down. Wait...did you say that it was Max?!? Oh man, I can't wait to get my hands on that little loser! I'm sure he already has some damage done, and Logan has that glint in his eye, so there will probably be more. I'm sure Pops will turn a blind eye to that though. Ok, we're pulling in now. See you in a few minutes. And Dick? Thanks."

Dick smiled as he hung up the phone. Maybe after his act of chivalry, Veronica wouldn't have such a problem with him pursuing Mac romantically. And he _was _going to pursue her. It made him chuckle a little at the thought of him actively going after a girl, not for sex, but for a relationship, but that was what he wanted from Mac. Yeah, sex would be good, he was a male after all, but it wasn't the priority when it came to Mac, although the thought of making love to her, which is what it would be with her, got him all hot. He chuckled again at himself for thinking in such terms when it came to a chick, but he wasn't going to fight it anymore.

He glared down at Max, whom he had allowed to slink to the floor, and kicked him hard in the side just as the elevator doors opened and Logan came running out. He saw Veronica glance out, but thankfully stay in to go and get those clothes. He thought he might have heard a chuckle from her as his foot connected with Max. Logan came running up, slapping Dick on the back.

"Bro, you did good, huh?" Logan glanced at the door. "Is she ok in there?"

Dick turned to the door and then talked to Logan in a low voice. "I don't know, bro. She was really scared on the phone. He did what Beav did to her. Only, she seemed to not know how she got there. I think he drugged her to get her here. I want to be the first to see her, ok? You might have to hold Ronnie back, but I just...I have to make sure she's ok, you know? I don't know why, but she called me. I have to see this through."

He turned to Logan with pleading eyes. He knew he looked like a lovesick puppy, but hey, if that's what he was, so be it. Logan knew what it was like to be deathly afraid of the woman he cared about. With Veronica that happened like once a year, at least. Logan had a sort of smile-smirk on his face and clapped Dick on the back again.

"Dude, you are sooo gone over her, aren't you? Its sorta cute, you know. Of course, Ronnie will probably give you an interrogation about your intentions or something, but she'll come around. Especially after today." Logan scowled down at Max when he heard a groan and leaned down to pick him up. He grinned over at Dick.

"Sheriff Mars won't be here for a few minutes..." Logan then punched Max as hard as he could in the stomach. Logan really didn't like guys who did things like this. He thought they were scum and deserved to burn in hell with his father.

Smiling to himself on behalf of his best friend, Dick turned to the door. Taking a deep, steadying breath, he knocked softly on it. "Mac? Baby? You can open the door now. Logan is watching Max, he won't get away. You can let me in. It'll be ok."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

As soon as she had heard Max pounding on the door yelling for her to let him in, Mac had sat down in front of the dresser and leaned on it, just to give it the added weight. She was terrified. The night before had started to come back to her as soon as she heard his voice. They had been at one of his friend's houses and he had been drinking. She had gotten mad and said if that's the kind of thing that he wanted her to do, they might as well have gone to one of Logan and Dick's parties. He had gotten really angry and started to yell at her. Some of the things he had been saying actually made sense and were true. Yes, she had been focused on Dick the past few weeks, but she had been really confused about their last meeting. And that was when Mac had realized, while her boyfriend, the one person who should be the one she thought of so constantly, was yelling at her that she shouldn't be dating him. Not if she was so focused on someone else.

So, Mac had agreed with Max. She had told him that he was right, and that she definitely had feelings of some sort for Dick that she needed to sort through, and so it would be better if they didn't see each other anymore. But to be fair, she had to tell Max that she thought he still had feelings for that Wendy girl he had been seeing. He was not happy with her for bringing it up. He yelled even more at her. When she told him she was leaving, he got really quiet and then started to apologize profusely. He asked her if he could go get her a drink and they could talk more about it, and to be fair to him and what they had had together, she had agreed. That was apparently where she had made her mistake. She remembered drinking the soda he had brought her and then beginning to feel woozy. She had looked up at him and he had a very strange look on his face. She realized that he had drugged her and tried to get away but collapsed in his arms.

Then she had woken up in the hotel and now here she was, cowering in fear behind a dresser, naked, vulnerable, and alone, all over again. Just as she felt the anger begin to bubble up in her chest at him for doing this to her again, the pounding stopped and she heard a soft grunt. Then she heard the most amazing sound she could think of --- Dick asking if she was ok. She collapsed in relief and responded to him.

She heard him unintelligibly through the door. She also heard some more grunts and smiled in satisfaction knowing that Dick was not going to let Max go unscathed. Then another voice joined Dick's. It kind of sounded like Logan, which meant that she could soon open the door. She put herself into position to push the dresser back, and waited for Dick to give her the go ahead. She couldn't wait to open the door. It didn't matter that she was naked under the wrap she had made out of the curtains, she just needed to be held by Dick right now. She knew if Logan was there, Veronica must also be in the vicinity, but she wasn't ready to deal with her yet.

Suddenly, Dick was calling to her again. "Mac? Baby? You can open the door now. Logan is watching Max, he won't get away. You can let me in. It'll be ok."

She pushed the dresser as much as she could, but it only went a little more than halfway before catching on something. She giggled a little to herself hysterically that she could blockade the door, but now apparently could not get out.

"Dick? The dresser is stuck! The door is a little more than halfway clear of it, but it won't go any further!" She knew he could hear the tears in her voice and wryly thought that just minutes ago she was happy she couldn't get out, but now she really needed this door to open.

"Its ok baby, don't worry about it. Just unlock it and I'll use my mass amounts of brute strength to bust it open. And if that doesn't work, we've got good old Max here to use as a battering rod." She knew he was joking to keep her calm and her heart swelled even more with emotion for him. She wouldn't dare call it love, because that would be just silly, but she knew now that if they developed their relationship, of which she had no doubt there would be, she definitely could fall in love with him and probably quickly. Unlike with Bronson and Max, her two boyfriends this past year, that did not scare her.

After unlocking the door, she stepped away and watched as it started to push open. She could see Dick through the crack, his head down, pushing as hard as he could. She stared at the muscles in his arms flexing and swallowed hard as a wave of heat shot through her. This was definitely not the time for those thoughts, she thought with a smirk.

He finally had the door pushed open enough to slink in. He shimmied in, sucking in his breath to get his wide chest through the tiny space, apparently not wanting to take the time to push door open more. As soon as he stumbled into the room, he went to her and took her in his arms, pressing his head to her own. She heard the door close, and had a feeling that Logan might be running some interference with Veronica in order to give Dick and her some time alone.

She felt the deep breath Dick took, and even more curiously, thought she felt an odd wetness in her hair. She held him tighter, feeling her own tears run down her face. Finally after a time period that could have been mere moments or years, she really couldn't tell anymore now that he was here, he pulled away and taking her face in his big hands, looked down at her own face. Her heart warmed at the way he focused on her eyes, making sure she knew that he was trying to respect the fact that she was vulnerable.

"Oh god baby, are you ok?"

His voice was a choked whisper and it made her smile. She nodded her head at him and realized that she too could not speak at full volume. "I am now that you are here."

He just nodded his head and hugged her close again, rocking softly. "Oh god, I'm so glad you are ok. Can you tell me what happened? Did he do anything...?" She teared up a little again, shaking her head.

"I-I don't think he did, but I can't remember. We got in a fight last night," she looked up at him, trying to make him understand without words that it had been about him, "a-and I told him we shouldn't see each other anymore. He was really mad. Then he got all apologetic and asked to talk about it. He got me a drink and after I drank it I started to feel funny. I-I knew that he must have drugged me and tried to run, but it was too late. The last thing I remember before I woke up here was collapsing in his arms."

Dick was nodding his head, but she caught him glare at the door and knew he wanted to go out there and take out his anger on Max even more. Then he looked down at her and, raising his thumbs, wiped tears she didn't realize she was shedding off her cheeks. He led her to a chair in the room and sat her down. Then he walked into the bathroom and she heard water running. He came back out with a glass of water and handed it to her.

"Here, I want you to drink it all. You still seem a little woozy, so you need to get whatever he gave you out of your system. This will help a little, but they'll know exactly what to give you at the hospital. Veronica can go with you if you'd feel more comfortable, but I'll drive behind. I'm pretty sure her dad will have called the paramedics to come along just in case."

Just as he said that, sirens started to shriek off in the distance, getting closer. Mac took the water and drank it down as he wandered over to the door and looked out, taking something from Logan. She heard Veronica's voice, but he just closed the door on her. She felt the ghost of a smile touching her lips, knowing that he was definitely going to pay for that later with V.

He walked back over to her, with what looked like a bundle of clothing in his arms. He looked a little sheepish as he crouched down in front of her.

"I..umm...I had Veronica run up to my room and get you a shirt and some pajama pants. They are both probably going to dwarf you since they are mine, but I figure its better than that curtain you are wearing, no matter how hot you may be making it look." He tried a little grin, and again her heart lurched as she recognized his attempt at humor and at his consideration. She reached out a hand and ran her fingers softly along his cheek. She watched as his eyes widened and he took a deep breath.

"Thank you Dick. They'll be perfect." Going on instinct, not thinking at all about the wrongs and rights of the situation, but rather just going off of emotion, Mac leaned forward and laid her lips softly against Dick's. She felt his indrawn breath and his arm that went to grab the back of her chair. As she softly rubbed her lips against his own amazingly soft ones, she could feel him holding himself steady, as if afraid to frighten her by reacting. This made her smile and she pulled back to look at him. She softly brushed a piece of hair off of his forehead, her smile widening at the way his pupils were dilated and how heavy he was breathing.

Suddenly they both heard more of a commotion out in the hall and knew that there time together was almost up. Dick slowly stood up, reaching his hand down to her.

"Umm, you had better go in the bathroom and get dressed. I'll move the dresser more clearly out of the way and send Ronnie in. She's probably at the end of her leash and taking it out on Max." He got a strangely gleeful look on his face. "Hmm, I could totally dig it if she tasered his balls. He would deserve it. And there's no way Poppa Mars would arrest his own daughter for assaulting an asshole like that."

Mac giggled a little as she walked into the bathroom and closed the door. She leaned against it and took a deep breath. She brought her fingers to her lips and touched them, smiling. She heard him leave and Veronica enter. She moved out of the way just in time for the bathroom door to shoot open and for Veronica to throw herself at her.

"Oh my God, Mac!!! Are you ok? Here, let's get you dressed and then we can get Dad in here and the paramedics. Why didn't you call me? I mean, not that I'm not glad you called _someone, _and yeah, Dick did good, but still!"

As she went on in her hurried monologue, Veronica helped strip Mac of the curtain, looking disdainfully down at it. She handed Mac the shirt first, which Mac gratefully put on. She couldn't help but take a deep breath in of Dick's scent, feeling a great sense of calm at being surrounded by it. She caught the look Veronica gave her and raised her eyebrow right back at her. She was daring V to say anything at this moment. She should have known nothing would stop the infamous Veronica Mars from interrogating a suspect, even if it was her traumatized best friend. As she handed Mac the large pajama pants, Veronica spoke up.

"So, you finally figured out your feelings for Dick then?" Mac drew back in surprise. That definitely was no the way she thought Veronica would start, or the fact that Veronica would be smiling. Mac smiled back at her as she tightened the drawstring on Dick's pants, looking up at her best friend.

"Yeah, I guess I have. That's actually sort of what set Max off. I guess he could tell that I had some unresolved feelings towards Dick that I was dealing with and when he brought it up last night, to his surprise, I didn't deny it. I told him we shouldn't see each other anymore and I guess he went nuts. I know I should probably be more upset about all of this, and I'm sure later I will be, but right now I'm sorta basking in the _Dick and I finally figured it out_ glow, you know? Part of me kinda wants to go out there and thank Max for causing me and Dick to finally come together. Well you know, after kicking him."

Veronica laughed and put her arm around Mac. "That's my girl. Always get your revenge along with rubbing it in their faces, that is the code we live by." Then Veronica got a serious look on her face and turned back to Mac.

"Mac, I think he really cares about you. Seriously. I mean, his fear was palpable on the phone earlier. When I at first thought he wanted something stupid, I thought he was going to come through the phone and rip my head off if he thought it would get him to you faster. And his face walking out of here just now. Logan agrees. He's never seen Dick like this. He said that Dick hasn't even looked at another girl in like 2 months. And I must say, I've never seen you like this either. Even these past few weeks. I'd see you get this look on your face when we were studying, like you were somewhere else. You'd have this little smile. I sorta had a feeling you might be thinking about him, the way you kept bringing him up. As much as I hate to say it, this could actually be good for the two of you. Not that I'm not going to, you know, do my thing, and let him know what's what. But I want you to know that if you decide to go for this, which I think you already have, I'm not going to lecture about it being a bad idea. Ok?"

Mac felt that tight knot of emotion in her throat again and knew that her eyes had filled with tears again. She nodded softly and then was in Veronica's arms as her best friend rocked her back and forth. Then there a knock on the hotel room door and she heard V's dad calling out.

"Hey, is it ok if the paramedics and I come in now? Just to see how you are doing?"

Mac and Veronica walked out into the room and Veronica nodded to her father. Sheriff Mars and two paramedics opened the door wider and walked in as Veronica went to the door. The paramedics had Mac sit down on the chair and started to take her vitals. Veronica returned with Dick in tow. Dick immediately went to Mac's side and knelt down, his hand next to her own on the chair. Mac saw Veronica and her father share a look and giggled a little, startling the paramedics.

After some preliminary readings, the paramedics, with Dick's encouragement, decided to take Mac to the hospital. She refused to be taken down on a stretcher, especially since she was now dressed, but could not argue with Dick enough for him to refuse to carry her. After seeing the fear still in his eyes, she agreed, and allowed him to carry her to the ambulance. She actually didn't mind that much, and nuzzled against his neck, breathing in his wonderful scent. She also took pleasure in seeing Max, bruised and bloodied, sitting in the backseat of Sheriff Mars' car and the look of surprise and hurt he had because of her closeness to Dick.

As Dick climbed into the ambulance and got in beside her, Mac couldn't stop the huge smile she felt spreading across her face. Dick just smiled softly back down at her, touching her face gently as if he couldn't believe she was ok.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Dick was able to stay with Mac for most of her exam, but when she decided, just to be on the safe side, to have a rape kit done, he said he would wait out in the hall and send Veronica into the room instead. He wanted to make sure she was as comfortable as possible. Logan stayed out in the hall with him as he paced up and down. He was sorely tempted to do what Logan did a few short months ago and do some public damage in order to be put in the same cell as Max so he could do some more damage to him. But Mac needed him here, and besides, he doubted Sheriff Mars would be so kind. There was only so much he could turn a blind eye to.

He was in agony, he needed to know that Mac hadn't been hurt that way. If she had been, well, he wouldn't be able to control his actions then. Nothing would be able to keep Max safe from him. Mac would be ok though, she had Veronica and Parker, who had both been through that horror, to talk to. But he couldn't bear it if it had happened to Mac.

He couldn't help it. He had to get rid of some of this anger. He turned and punched the wall as hard as he could. He felt something pop, but didn't care. He just kept hitting the wall. He felt Logan come up behind him and grab his shoulders. He didn't care how it looked, he turned and slumped into the guy he considered a brother's arms and let himself cry. He couldn't help but chuckle wryly at how reminiscent the pose was to the beginning of the school year when Dick had arrived at Logan's after what he had said to Mac and collapsed in his arms then too. Then it had been because he had caused her pain, and now it was because he had failed to protect her.

Logan seemed to know this and patted his back. "Dude, come on. You did everything you could. You saved her. You got there. You got her out. And you heard the doctor, it was more likely than not that she wasn't raped. Max swore he didn't touch her other than putting that pill in her drink and taking her clothes. He just wanted to scare her, you heard what V's dad said. Max confessed as soon as he got into the interrogation room. She's gonna be ok."

Dick nodded and pulled away, wiping his eyes. "I know what I heard, but until Veronica walks out here and tells me everything is ok, I'm not gonna believe it. God, it was my fault what that it happened to Veronica. What if I couldn't stop it from happening to Mac? I mean, I like Veronica, I think of her as a good friend, but Mac? God she's everything. And what if I couldn't stop it from happening again?" He collapsed into a chair and put his head into his hands.

Logan looked up and saw Veronica standing there with tears in her eyes, staring at Dick open mouthed. He knew that she had been unaware of how much guilt Dick carried with him about what had happened to her with Beaver. Not only had Dick been the one to put GHB in the drink Madison Sinclair had ultimately given to Veronica, but he had also put Beaver in the room with an unconscious Veronica and, albeit jokingly, told Beaver to have his way with her. There was no way for him to know what kind of monster his little brother had turned out to be. Logan knew it, and he hoped that Veronica would see it too. But at the same time, he couldn't blame Veronica if she didn't. She had after all ended up being raped. That still tore at him. He knew what Dick was going through right now.

Veronica sat down next to Dick and placed her hand on his back. Dick jerked up and stared at her, horrified as he relieved that she had heard him. He didn't know what to say to her. He just stared at her, waiting for her to scream at him that it was all his fault for the things that Beaver had done, that he was to blame for the deaths of their classmates, for her rape, for what had happened to Mac. He waited for her to tell him to leave and never come back and never look at Mac again. As Veronica took a deep breath, Dick held his, waiting for what was to come.

"Dick, I want to make myself very clear here, ok? Just listen very carefully. _It was not your fault._ Yeah, you made some mistakes, and yeah, I was mad at you for it. But you aren't that person anymore. You proved that today. And you were _NOT_ responsible for Beaver's actions! How could you have been when you didn't know what had happened to him at little league? He held it all inside! He didn't tell anyone. He didn't want to. Nothing you could have done would have changed that." She then hit him upside the head, which absolutely shocked him.

"And what is this crap about last night and today being your fault? How can you even justify that? As _soon_ as you got that call from her, you did everything in your power to get to her. I couldn't even have done better myself. You proved yourself to her, ok? This was 100 Max's fault. He's the one who drugged her, who took her clothes and phone and anything she could cover herself with. And for the record, she was not assaulted in any sort of way. The rape kit came up clear."

Dick felt his body go absolutely slack in relief. Veronica had to hold him up in his chair as he leaned forward and felt tears running down his face again. Damn, he was turning into a crybaby, but he couldn't help it, he was so relieved. He raised his head and looked at Veronica, who was rubbing his back.

"Ronnie, I am so sorry for everything. The fact that you don't blame me, well I can't put into words how that makes me feel, because no matter what, a part of me will always blame myself. I could have stopped him, at least from what he did to you. Til the day I die, I'll have to live with that." He pulled himself out of his chair and then looked uncertainly at the door to Mac's room. Veronica smiled a little and stood up herself, a little happy that the emotional moment was over, but satisfied that she and Dick had a new understanding about each other.

"You can go in Dick. And I meant what I said, she's perfectly fine. They're putting her on an IV to flush out the drugs, but other than that she is in top condition. She's just putting back on your clothes. She would rather where them than a gown. The nurse will be out in a minute to let you go in." She then lifted a finger and pointed it menacingly at him, stabbing him in the chest.

"But you listen here, and you listen good. I've got a good feeling about the two of you, and after our little talk out here just now, I feel even better. But that doesn't mean I won't come after you if you hurt her, you hear me? You know I could ruin you. But I get the feeling that you aren't going to willingly hurt her, are you?"

Dick smiled down at the chick who had become one of his greatest friends. He chucked at the thought that 2 years ago he would have punched someone who had suggested that he would count Veronica Mars and Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie as two of the closest people to him. God, he had been such an ass. He knew he might get his ass kicked, but he couldn't help it, he reached down and ruffled Veronica's hair. She scowled up at him.

"Don't worry chica, I'm not gonna screw this up. You can count on it." He looked up as the nurse walked out and motioned him to go ahead in to Mac's room. He smiled and waved at Veronica and Logan and then sauntered in. His eyes honed right in on the beautiful girl lying in the bed, connected to an IV. He walked straight to her and grabbed her hand, sitting down in the chair next to her bed. He smiled down at her, his fingers softly pushing a piece of platinum hair off of her forehead.

"Hey baby, how are you doing?"

Mac graced him with probably the most beautiful smile he had ever seen and squeezed his hand. "I'm doing ok. Nothing physically wrong with me other than the drugs. Dick...I don't know how to thank you. For everything you did today...for...just...thank you." He thought she looked quite adorable as she turned a lovely pink color.

He leaned down and brushed a kiss on her heated cheeks. "Mac, nothing could have stopped me from getting to you. I want you to know that. I know I screwed up 3 weeks ago in the way I went about my apology to you. And I know I freaked you out when I tried to kiss you. Its just...god, after that night last fall, I knew I had acted like the biggest ass ever. I've been trying to figure out how to apologize for months. And then I went and got drunk and blew it. I'm honored that I'm the one you called. You had no reason to trust me to help you. And yet you did. That means the world to me. I don't care how you want to go about this, if you just want to be friends, I don't care. I mean I do, but if you just want to be friends right now, I'll just have to try really hard to win you over even more. And let's face, I will." He smiled that lady killer smile he knew he was known for. He was relieved when she laughed up at him. God he was praying that she wouldn't just want to be friends. But he'd do it. He'd be the best friend she'd ever had, if he just got to be close to her.

"Oh you will, huh? Well, I have to say, I think you won me over 3 weeks ago. If not before that. That's what Max was so angry about. He knew that you were the one occupying my thoughts. Dick, I want to be really clear here, because I know you, and I know that you are probably blaming yourself right now, but just because Max used you as a reason for doing this, that doesn't make it your fault. It was all his. You saved me. You are the one who came through. I don't just want to be friends. But we should probably start slow, just in case, you know? Like, maybe as a thank you thing, I could like take you out for coffee, and then we'll see where it goes? Maybe we could play some video games after?"

Dick loved that as she asked him out, she was blushing. He couldn't help it, he leaned down and kissed her. He loved the taste of her lips. They had to be the softest lips he'd ever kissed. He liked it even better when she wrapped the arm that wasn't attached to a machine around him and deepened the kiss. When he felt her tongue shyly touch his lips, he smiled and pulled back. When he saw her look of confusion, he smiled wider.

"Hey babe, you're the one who said you wanted to take it slow. So, as an answer, yeah, totally, coffee, video games, whatever. I don't care, I just want to spend time with you. And you know, go slow. From what I've heard that means not a lot of kissing..." He looked down at her wickedly, silently daring her. He was really happy when she pokered up and raised his bet.

"Oh, I don't know whoever said going slow meant no kissing..." He sighed happily as she pulled him back down and kissed him hungrily. Yeah, this ended up being a pretty good day. He couldn't wait for that coffee date.

END.

Again, let me know how I did!


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